SAS: Rogue Heroes
GenreHistorical drama
Created bySteven Knight
Directed byTom Shankland
Starring
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series1
No. of episodes6
Production
Executive producers
  • Tommy Bulfin
  • Martin Haines
  • Emma Kingsman-Lloyd
  • Karen Wilson
  • Steven Knight
Running time58 minutes
Production companies
Original release
Network
Release30 October 2022 (2022-10-30) –
present (present)

SAS: Rogue Heroes is a British television historical drama series created by Steven Knight, which depicts the origins of the British Army Special Air Service (SAS) during the Western Desert Campaign of World War II.[1][2] The storyline is a broadly accurate representation of real events, as described by Ben Macintyre in his 2016 book of the same name.[3][4]

On 4 December 2022, the BBC confirmed that a second series had been commissioned, based upon SAS operations in the European theatre of war.[5]

Premise

The narrative begins in a Cairo hospital in 1941, when, after a failed training exercise, British Army officer David Stirling has the idea of creating a special commando unit which could operate deep behind enemy lines.[1]

Cast

Episodes

SeriesEpisodesOriginally airedAverage UK viewers
(millions)
First airedLast aired
1630 October 2022 (2022-10-30)4 December 2022 (2022-12-04)5.65

Series 1 (2022)

No.TitleDirected by [6]Written by [6]Original release date [7] Viewers
(millions) [8][lower-alpha 1]
1"Episode 1"Tom ShanklandSteven Knight30 October 2022 (2022-10-30)6.55
2"Episode 2"Tom ShanklandSteven Knight6 November 2022 (2022-11-06)5.63
3"Episode 3"Tom ShanklandSteven Knight13 November 2022 (2022-11-13)5.67
4"Episode 4"Tom ShanklandSteven Knight20 November 2022 (2022-11-20)5.16
5"Episode 5"Tom ShanklandSteven Knight27 November 2022 (2022-11-27)5.58
6"Episode 6"Tom ShanklandSteven Knight4 December 2022 (2022-12-04)5.33
  1. ↑ 7-day ratings

Production

In March 2021, it was announced that filming had begun on the six-part miniseries, with Connor Swindells, Jack O'Connell, Alfie Allen, Sofia Boutella and Dominic West in starring roles. The series was written by Steven Knight and directed by Tom Shankland.[6] In June, César Domboy joined the cast.[9] Location work was done in Morocco.[10]

Release

The series made its premiere on BBC One on 30 October 2022 in the UK.[2] It simultaneously made its US debut on MGM+.[11]

The first episode was watched 5,526,000 times on iPlayer alone during 2022, making it the fifth most viewed individual programme on the platform that year.[12]

Reception

Writing in The Guardian, Antony Beevor commented that the series was "unmissable viewing", and "achieved the right balance of irreverence and admiration all the way through with a brilliant contrast in characters".[3]

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 100% with an average rating of 8.3/10, based on 12 critic reviews. The website's critical consensus said: "With a terrific cast inhabiting this roster of likeable rapscallions, Rogue Heroes is a fun throwback to down-and-dirty adventure stories."[13] Metacritic gave the series a weighted average score of 78 out of 100 based on seven critic reviews, indicating "Generally favourable reviews".[14]

SAS: Rogue Heroes was the sixth most-watched UK drama series of 2022, and the fourth most popular of the year on the BBC.[15]

Historical accuracy

Members of the 'French Squadron SAS' (1ere Compagnie de Chasseurs Parachutistes) in Tunisia. Previously a company of Free French paratroopers, the French SAS squadron were the first of a range of units "acquired" by Major Stirling as the SAS expanded.

At the beginning of each episode, the viewer is informed that the series is "[b]ased on a true story", and that "the events depicted which seem most unbelievable… are mostly true".[16]

Unlike the main trio of Stirling, Mayne, and Lewes, the character of Eve Mansour is fictional. However, Sofia Boutella, who plays the character, points out that her character is influenced by real-life female spies such as Noor Inayat Khan and Virginia Hall.[17]

As military historian Antony Beevor noted, whilst events surrounding the creation of the SAS "certainly defy belief", it is true that "some liberties with the precise record" were taken – for example, in the scripting of a romantic association between David Stirling and Mansour, the French intelligence agent. However, his opinion was that these were "mainly additions, fleshing out characters and context", rather than being significant "distortions" of the facts.[3]

Billy Foley, writing in The Irish News, was somewhat more critical of the artistic license employed, particularly in the depiction of Paddy Mayne. Far from being "a brutish, rough man who was looked down on by the aristocracy of his native Newtownards and despised the toff officer class of the British army", Foley pointed out that the ostensibly working class Mayne was in fact born to a landed family, went to grammar school, played rugby for the British & Irish Lions, and studied at Queen's University Belfast before qualifying as a solicitor.[18] Historian Damien Lewis also said it was "nonsense" to portray Mayne as a "thug and drunken lout", when he "cared passionately for those men he commanded".[19]

Moreover, it was Stirling who asked General De Gaulle to have Frenchmen in the SAS because he needed men ready to do anything to deal with the Germans. So the 1re Compagnie de Chasseurs Parachutistes was sent, which became the French Squadron SAS.[20]

Gavin Mortimer wrote that the "main problem with Rogue Heroes is that it is true to David Stirling's version of how the SAS was born. But as I make clear in my recent biography of Stirling, The Phoney Major, based on two decades of research, he was a master at twisting the truth to suit his own ends", adding that Paddy Mayne "was not the borderline psychopath depicted in Rogue Heroes. I know because I've interviewed scores of men who served under Mayne in the SAS."[21]

References

  1. 1 2 "First full-length trailer and new pictures released for SAS Rogue Heroes, coming soon to BBC One and iPlayer". BBC Media Centre. 30 September 2022.
  2. 1 2 Nicholson, Rebecca (30 October 2022). "SAS: Rogue Heroes review – is the follow up to Peaky Blinders fun? Does Arthur Shelby like a drink?". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 Beevor, Antony (22 September 2022). "'This is rock-star history!' – Antony Beevor on the gung-ho brilliance of SAS Rogue Heroes". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  4. ↑ Macintyre, Ben (2017). SAS: Rogue Heroes (Paperback ed.). London: Penguin. ISBN 978-0-241-18686-2.
  5. ↑ "Hit BBC drama SAS Rogue Heroes to return for a second series". BBC Media Centre. 4 December 2022. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
  6. 1 2 3 Kanter, Jake (9 March 2021). "Jack O'Connell, Alfie Allen & Dominic West Among Cast For Steven Knight's BBC Series 'SAS: Rogue Heroes'".
  7. ↑ "SAS: Rogue Heroes – Episode guide". BBC One. Choose appropriate episode. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  8. ↑ "Most viewed programmes". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
  9. ↑ Wiseman, Andreas (23 June 2021). "'Outlander' Star Cesar Domboy Joins Steven Knight Series 'SAS: Rogue Heroes'". Deadline.
  10. ↑ McLean, Craig (25 October 2022). "Tough Enough? What did it take to step into the boots of the men who made a myth?". Radio Times. London: Immediate Media Co. p. 19.
  11. ↑ "Rogue Heroes". Epix.com.
  12. ↑ "World Cup wins 2022 in record breaking year for BBC iPlayer". BBC Media Centre. 31 January 2023. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  13. ↑ "Rogue Heroes: Season 1". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Archived from the original on 7 November 2022. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  14. ↑ "Rogue Heroes: Season 1". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Archived from the original on 7 November 2022. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  15. ↑ Hibbs, James (20 December 2022). "Top 10 most-watched dramas of 2022 revealed – as BBC tops the list". Radio Times. London: Immediate Media Co. Archived from the original on 20 December 2022. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  16. ↑ "SAS Rogue Heroes: fact vs fiction". The Telegraph. 14 December 2022.
  17. ↑ Boutella, Sofia (31 October 2022). "SAS Rogue Heroes | Interview with Sofia Boutella (Eve Mansour)". Bradford Zone (Interview).
  18. ↑ Foley, Billy (12 November 2022). "TV review: SAS Rogue Heroes is not to be relied on but it's great fun". The Irish News. Belfast. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
  19. ↑ Sheridan, Danielle (7 December 2022). "SAS hero is 'turned into someone he wasn't' in new BBC series, family says". The Telegraph. London. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  20. ↑ "How to benefit from those French connections". The Herald. 2 June 1995.
  21. ↑ Mortimer, Gavin (16 December 2022). "Rogues Heroes: What Prince Harry has in common with the SAS's founder". The Spectator.
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